Bilstein 5100 adj shocks (front and rear)

5RWill · September 25, 2015

Summit I thought you went with ranchos? Did you change?

nadrojcote · September 25, 2015

Summit I thought you went with ranchos? Did you change?

Yup, wanted to bring it back down to stock in the front and removed the rear blocks to level it. I love the way it rides now. I found with the ranchos had no up travel, basically the truck was sitting at maxed out droop so if I went over bumps the wheels wouldn't stay connected to the road. When I would jack the front end up the wheels would start to leave the ground almost as soon as the truck started to move up.

fondupot · September 25, 2015

@projectsummit

That stance suits your truck 10x better with the wheels you have. Looks sharp.

Dropsix · September 25, 2015

If i were about to spend 400$ again i'd convince my past self to spend 200ish more and get 6112s

Once the strut is mounted the only weight putting load on the spring is the truck. As this is how the increase in height is achieved, you raise the spring perch, the springs displacement stays the same. Technically it is pre-load but i'm not sold that the perceived roughness is attributed to that alone. I can't comment if they ride worse or not though i have mine at 1.8 and really like them. Haven't tried them at a different height. I know some talked about doing 1.5" or whatever and then buying spacers but that's defeating the entire purpose of ever buying the shocks to begin with.

Dopsix what is your rake amount? I had roughly 3" of rake i now sit at a little over an inch and i have people tell me my truck is squatting or appears to be. I've probably said it a lot in this thread but at least for the highest setting you will feel small bumps. So if you live in a place like i do with horrible roads and don't like feeling the tar patches over cracks and such, you probably wont like it. If however your wanting to dampen large bumps, railroad tracks, woops, and give yourself a little more ability in hitting the trails, turn roads, hunting camp, what have you they will be worth it. There is a turn road about 200yds to the right of those woods behind my truck that i've gone down at 55mph just to mess around and see how they handled. It feels like your floating to some extent. I also was discing a field of buckshot and then grading it. When i road to the tractor i just floored it across the field...hell why not? It's 100 acres of fun right? Had a glass of water that spilled albeit a little and it was a tad bouncy but really not bad at all. I mean we're talking about disced up field.

Other than that you need to find someone who has them, that will be the tell tell as to whether or not you feel they're worth the money.

Can't remember off the top of my head. I'll have to go measure again. Probably close to the same.

Thing is I already feel small bumps with the stock setup and the 20" bfg KO2's. So I am a little hesitant to add more stiffness. I won't be going off road really, just gravel and dirt roads here and there.

Just looking for a better way to lift the truck 1.25 or so up front and 1" in the back.

nadrojcote · September 25, 2015

@projectsummit

That stance suits your truck 10x better with the wheels you have. Looks sharp.

Thanks, I had my windows tinted the other weekend too, now its pretty sleek.

Can't remember off the top of my head. I'll have to go measure again. Probably close to the same.

Thing is I already feel small bumps with the stock setup and the 20" bfg KO2's. So I am a little hesitant to add more stiffness. I won't be going off road really, just gravel and dirt roads here and there.

Just looking for a better way to lift the truck 1.25 or so up front and 1" in the back.

Most guys running 5100's 1.25" say it rides better than stock. If you have stock ranchos the 5100's at any setting will most likely handle the little bumps better. I found the z71 stock ranchos were really stiff over every little crack in the road.

fondupot · September 25, 2015

Just looking for a better way to lift the truck 1.25 or so up front and 1" in the back.

I have bilsteins on 1.25 and I love the way it rides. Didn't lift the back at all tho.

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Dropsix · September 25, 2015

I have bilsteins on 1.25 and I love the way it rides. Didn't lift the back at all tho.

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3rd setting right?

I'll probably end up doing that anyway due to the cost. I can get 5100's in Canada for 140$ each (fronts). Pretty good deal for us.

fondupot · September 25, 2015

3rd setting right?

I'll probably end up doing that anyway due to the cost. I can get 5100's in Canada for 140$ each (fronts). Pretty good deal for us.

3rd setting. Correct.

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nadrojcote · September 25, 2015

1.25" setting on my truck would have made it perfectly level (cab level not fenders) because with my front at stock height and my rear 1.25" block removed my cab is level. Mind you my truck has 80,000kms and the rear leafs are a little sagged.

Edited September 25, 2015 by projectsummit

Jackseric · September 26, 2015

How does everyone know the 6112s are better if they're not yet available?

nadrojcote · September 26, 2015

How does everyone know the 6112s are better if they're not yet available?

They're available for other trucks and there hasn't been a negative review yet.

bdbake01 · December 28, 2015

Got a set of Billie 5100's for Christmas. As with most, the fronts are back ordered till Jan/Feb. Got the rears in though! Installed Christmas morning (I was a good boy...didn't open. My 7 yr old boy felt bad that nobody wrapped the box so he decorated for me

While the fam was getting ready to go to Grandma's, I put them on. 23 mins and 42 seconds garage door up to garage door down (that's my standard measure. Any beer is included in the tally as it's reflective of reality). Granted, I'm reasonably handy w/ a wrench and the garage is decently appointed. But, if you can't install the rears in an hour you shouldn't be wrenching on the truck at all.

Verdict? Quite noticeable. And yes, the fronts suck even more now. The old Ranchos were pretty pathetic, I could QUITE easily compress by hand without any real effort. They even had a dead drop in the stroke. To be fair, the Billies may have had as well, but I didn't test. But the compression force was MUCH more on the Billies.

On a separate, but only slightly related note, right about the area of the bed/cab intersection where the frame jumps up there's a spot that - to someone in a bit of a rush on Christmas morning - looks JUST LIKE a section of frame that's the perfect spot to jack on in order to extend the axle/shock. It's black...in the spot where the frame should be...and rather sturdy.

It's the gas tank. It's not the frame.

On he upside, the skid plate will make a rather disconcerting *CRUNCH* noise as it starts to collapse indicating you've f'd up and it's time to let the jack down quickly. My mileage has remained unaffected, so I think I'm in the good. LOL

jrob56 · December 28, 2015

Planning on doing this as next big mod, rears are cake. Fronts are what I'm wondering about a bit. Haven't seen a write up or how to yet. If no one does one by the time I buy them, I might try my hand at one. Refuse to pay the install prices haha.

5RWill · December 28, 2015

Install prices do suck. You'll need a spring compressor, there should be some tutorials on the web. It should be relatively as straight forward as the 07-13s I would think.

bdbake01 · December 29, 2015

Install prices do suck. You'll need a spring compressor, there should be some tutorials on the web. It should be relatively as straight forward as the 07-13s I would think.

I've looked all over, haven't seen a 14+ tutorial. That said, it looks 99% the same.